Research shows high levels of fear of insider threats

Organisations believe their greatest threat to IT systems is from disgruntled former employees

Research commissioned by the security division of Bell Micro has identified that 67% of organisations believe there is a greater threat to IT security from within their organisation as a result of redundancies being made. Yet, when questioned, just 8% of organisations had processes in place for removing employee credentials and details from its IT system which were 100% effective.

In fact, only 34% said processes were 'very good' at removing employee details whilst just 4% confessed to not having any such process in place. Additionally, the findings also identified 2% of organisations were unsure of any issues.

"Despite the research showing 94% of organisations have formal processes in place regarding staff dismissal and redundancies, a staggering 92% admitted to having processes which are far from fully competent," said Ed Callacher, Divisional Director at Bell Micro. "These findings clearly show that there is still a need to educate the market which presents an opportunity to broaden security offerings in the Channel. The fact that 19% of organisations will openly say that the process they have in place is 'poor' is simply unacceptable in today's climate."

Despite the economy showing signs of improving, the market is still unstable and the risk of having a security breach remains a threat for many organisations.

"Increasing awareness in the market should be high on a reseller's agenda particularly when you consider only a small minority of companies have secure, effective and appropriate processes," concludes Callacher.